It's close to the perfect time. But coming back will not be easy.
this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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UK Politics
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I don't think the UK is going to rejoin the EU soon, and yes it would probably take compromises - the EU might insist on the UK adopting the Euro and joining the Schengen Area. Who knows.
I guess more likely would be the UK negotiating some form of EU single market access in the next few years, like the EFTA countries have (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein). Starmer has even suggested this, as quoted in the article:
“We are better looking to the single market rather than the customs union for our further alignment,” he told Laura Kuenssberg.
I don't disagree. As little as that may seem or be, comercial agreements already carry a lot with them. The demand for standards alone implies a good deal of common ground.
Single market access in some areas could be a big deal, but the EU might insist on freedom of movement for single market access, and like the article says, Labour committed to no freedom of movement with the EU in their manifesto. I wouldn't mind so much if they broke that manifesto commitment, but I assume Starmer will want to stick to that commitment.
EU better have them make some serious concessions. Can’t reward stupidity or it’ll keep happening.
Thats the plan. Last i saw there were calls for a clause that would fine them an enormous sum if they left again in the first few years. They called it the "farage clause"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/11/draft-farage-clause-eu-if-reform-uk-wins-election
Yeah. Happy to have them back but no more special treatment please and some provisions against flip flopping.
They had iirc the sweetest deal out of all the member countries, with rebates and exceptions to half the rules and obligations. But they still went out against all common sense, that should not be rewarded.
They’re not getting the concessions Thatcher handbagged out of Delors. They join the EU on equal terms with other members. If they would prefer to stand proudly alone with their delusions of imperial grandeur and get pushed around by everyone else and eventually turned into a hollowed-out kleptostate run from Beijing, Riyadh, Mar-a-Lago and a dozen tax havens, then they can’t be helped. (Though if Scotland and Wales make a break for it, they should be welcomed into the EU on the standard terms.)
Surely he's supposed to take his glasses off before he reveals he's supeurman
This would doom the UK to more instability.
The UK should rejoin (with it's exception to joining the Euro), but it shouldn't be for a few years, the vote would need to be 65/35 for it to be worth it.
Underrated comment.
We don't need a referendum though. It can be via next parliament after a vote by the public on Labour vs Reform manifesto
The UK can keep its emotional-support Sterling (well, as long as the złoty and the Danish and Swedish krona exist, but not a day longer), though Schengen should be non-negotiable. Then we can get cross-channel rail service that’s not just a link between a handful of security-hardened railports with queues that compare unfavourably with Stansted in peak holiday season.
Unless the UK wants or even can, together with Charles bringing the entire Commonwealth with it, strongly denounce Trumpism and the American pariah state of nazis, pedophiles and goons, I think they can stay on their island.
Brexit was such grief, and it is clear that the pommies are not (well, have they ever) union-minded. They are not, let’s do this together, but rather is this slightly more beneficial for our bottom line.
Make Brentry conditional to the formation of a European military, because you’re kinda getting attacked on all sides. And include the Commonwealth in it.
Fck almost forgot, and 2 bodybags with Farage and Brand in it as upfront payment for “we’ll never do it again, and we’re sorry”
Brexit was such grief, and it is clear that the pommies are not (well, have they ever) union-minded.
Brexit only won the referendum by 52% to 48%. So practically half of Brits voted to remain in the EU. And that result was after Russian interference and misleading claims by the Leave side. There are more "union-minded" Brits than you think.
2 bodybags with Farage and Brand
I guess you're joking but still, I think everybody's right to live should be respected, even if it's people I disagree with.
I appreciate you are a moderate centrist, but this is war time in a time where war is no longer declared by the congress or the parliament.
Psychopaths only understand the fear of death, as they see themselves with impunity above the law and everyone else.
If it were peace time, I’d wholeheartedly agree with you.
Noone likes Farage but this makes you sound like a fucking lunatic arsehole.
Fck almost forgot, and 2 bodybags with Farage and Brand in it as upfront paymen
Happy to carry that title with pride if the world has less of those people.
But hey, look, Trump is still here too. If you like the accelerated version of the fall of the Anglo-American empire, keep them alive by all means.
I don't understand why removing them from power or voting them out of office or changing people's attitudes has fallen by the way side. Straight to violence. It's just sad really in my opinion.
And before you respond with
But none of that is working so we are compelled to murder!
Maybe you're not trying hard enough... or at all? If you're happy to escalate to violent murder at the drop of a hat, then so are people that disagree with you. And then everyone is fucked.
at the drop of a hat
Nominated for understatement of the century.
Come November, when the first elections are cancelled, perhaps you’ll reconsider your position.
The royalists/confederates/conservatives/fascists have been going straight to violence for years, if not forever. At this point it's community and self defense.
I thought I hated "Brexit" but "Brentry" is even worse. Possibly one of the worst things to come out of this whole catastrophe
Bre-admission. Got to include the hyphen or it sounds like a mission for bread
Coming soon to theaters, the new hit mockumentary! "Cornelis de Houtman, The Mission for Bread."
Could go for Brincomming too to go with the meta
It sounds like all of my niece’s classmates’ names